'Cats after repeat trip

Tri-City meets Aberdeen with a return to New York-Penn championship series on line

Jess Koehle, Times Union

By Jess Koehler

Published 12:06 am, Friday, September 6, 2013

ValleyCats Ronnie Mitchell, left, looks to run home after an over throw to Lowell Spinners Carlos Asuaje, right, at third during their game on Friday, July 5, 2013, at Bruno Stadium in Troy, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Of the four teams that advanced to last year's New York-Penn League playoffs, only one booked a return trip to the 2013 playoffs.

Capturing their second Stedler Division title in as many years, the Tri-City ValleyCats earned back-to-back trips to the postseason for the first time in franchise history.

Tri-City, the 2012 league runner-up, opens a best-of-three semifinal series at 7:05 p.m. Friday at McNamara Division winner Aberdeen. The teams return to Bruno Stadium for Game 2 at 7 p.m. Saturday and if necessary, Game 3 at 5 p.m. Sunday.

In the other series, Pinckney Division winner State College will meet wild card Jamestown.

The ValleyCats and IronBirds met six times this season with Aberdeen winning four games.

In those games, the IronBirds outscored the ValleyCats 29-20.

Tri-City punched its ticket to the postseason with a three-game winning streak after falling one-half game behind the Lowell Spinners in the standings on Aug. 31.

The 'Cats, who endured a nine-game losing streak earlier in the season, went on a five-game skid, which they snapped last Sunday against the Spinners.

"I think we were able to respond a little bit quicker than the nine-game losing streak," Tri-City first baseman Conrad Gregor said.

"I think it happened a little bit sooner the next time around because we were a little bit more confident and aware of the situation ... been there, done that."

Tri-City bested Brooklyn on Monday and clinched its fifth division title on Tuesday.

"It was awesome," ValleyCats outfielder Ronnie Mitchell said. "We had a lot of ups and downs throughout the season, but we all came together at the end and won those last few games to clinch the division."

Tri-City ranks fifth in the league with a .246 batting average. Aberdeen is seventh at .241.

Gregor leads the 'Cats with a .289 batting average and 35 RBIs. He's recorded a team-high 12 doubles and has scored 36 times.

Mitchell, batting .256 on the season, played a significant role in Tri-City's 3-1 record to close out the regular season. He had four hits, including a triple, and drove in five runs.

The ValleyCats, who won the league championship in 2010, have scored 18 runs in their past four games and will need to continue to produce in crucial situations if they want to advance to their second straight championship series.

"Toward the end of the year is when you want to get hot and get more consistent with your at-bats," Mitchell said. "It's good to see that we're getting hot at the right time."

The 'Cats, who have a staff ERA of 2.98, will send right-hander Michael Feliz (4-2, 1.96 ERA) to the mound to start Game 1 against Aberdeen righty Sebastian Vader (7-3, 2.43).

"Pitching's been great this whole year," Gregor said. "Good starting pitching, guys coming from the (bullpen) putting up zeros on the board all season long. You have to give a lot of credit to those guys for keeping us in the game."

Game 2 will pit Tri-City's Kyle Westwood (2-2, 0.81) against Hunter Harvey (0-1, 2.25), and if necessary, Evan Grills (7-1, 3.34) will start for the 'Cats against Steven Brault (1-2, 2.09) in Game 3.

"Everyone's pretty focused on what we need to do," Gregor said. "We're all thinking about winning a championship ... that's our goal ... but we have to take it one game at a time. Our hopes and mind-set is now on going to Aberdeen and taking that first game of the series."

Notes: The ValleyCats will hold a viewing party at Bruno Stadium for Friday's game. Fans will gather in the Diamond Club on the suite level. Admission is free and concessions will be open for food or drink purchases. Gates open at 6 p.m. The game can be viewed at http://milbtv.com, but a subscription must be purchased.